The Fight of Our Lives
by Zuria Maylin
Summary: Greek demigods Kathryn Hart, Alex Daniels, and Annika Kent are sent to the Roman camp to make sure Percy doesn't die when he gets there in The Son of Neptune. If you have read my version of The Son of Neptune, this is the backstory. During TBotL.
1. The Philamancer's Task

Hey, guys!

This is my story that I intertwined with _The Son of Neptune_, thought you wanted some back story here. Set in _The Battle of the Labyrinth_ and maybe I'll make a series out of it—a three book series, ending with _The Son of Neptune_.

This is called _The Fight of Our Lives,_ and I owe so much of this story to Friend. I started this on a road trip and Friend helped over come legions of writer's block.

There's an asterisk (*) next to Friend's ideas, and a continual "Ode to Friend" will be posted up here.

But here comes Chapter One!

Chapter 1—KATHRYN—The Philamancer's Task

It all started during Quintus's "training activity," I guess.

I am Kathryn Hart, daughter of Eros, god of love and son of Aphrodite. I know Eros, more commonly known as Cupid (his Roman form), is my father because he accompanied me from my home to Camp Half-Blood, and he told Chiron.

Anyway, split into teams of two, I was with my best friend, Annika Kent, daughter of Demeter.

Annika is the most crushed on girl in all of Camp Half-Blood. She loves that stat (she won't let me forget it), but none of the guys here interest her (she's told me a million times). She has a strawberry blond bob*, framing her face, and her eyes were a mesmerizing green. She usually wears a low-cut orange t-shirt and booty shorts.

I think that Annika and I had an identity change at birth. I mean, other than our powers, respective to our god parents', but our personalities are so different it's not funny. She was totally guy crazy and loved to gossip about who-liked-who, but I could care less. _I_ wasn't surprised when Percy grinned like a fool when he learned that he was on a team with Annabeth, but I _knew_ it was going to happen someday. So why did Annika obsess over it?

We were playing for forty-five minutes when two Athena kids confronted us. They were concerned, along with their own personal emotion.

One of them was blond, his hair kind of short. He had gray eyes, like all the other Athena kids, and his face turned beet red when he saw Annika. He was Malcolm Shaw.

The other one, Alex Daniels, had been my friend for years. He had a shaggy black mane* of hair, and his gray eyes glittered with silent laughter at Malcolm. He said, "Have you guys seen Annabeth or Percy?"

"No," I said. "Why?"

"We haven't seen 'em," he replied.

I sighed. "I thought your mother was the goddess of wisdom," I said. "It's a game in _the woods_. Of course we're not going to see everybody."

"They're together, most like," Annika added. "They probably want to be _alone_, if you catch my drift."

I sniggered, but Alex rolled his eyes. "The game's already over, and there are two teams not accounted for: Jackson and Chase; Hart and Kent."

"You found us," I said. "Okay, fine."

We looked for another fifteen minutes until a shout rang out across the valley: "Zeus's Thumb!" Everybody dashed to the rock formation known as Zeus's Thumb.

I got to the front of the crowd in time to hear Annabeth say something to Percy about the Labyrinth. Chiron shooed most of us off, asking the heads of cabins to remain behind.

I followed Connor Stoll to the Hermes Cabin. He was usually the leader when his brother Travis went to meetings. I found my spot on the floor—I had been sleeping there for quite some time now, five years, maybe—sat down, and started to draw.

I drew a picture of Thalia, daughter of Zeus, hugging a boy with blond hair. A brunette studied the scene, smiling, while a Hispanic kid and a stubby satyr supported her, oblivious to the scene—or maybe just pretending to be.

But there comes a time, as sad as it may seem, when drawing isn't enough to conquer your boredom. Which is why I went out into the commons area to have some fun on the people wandering around.

Being the daughter of Eros, I can make anyone fall in love with the first thing they see. I've earned a nickname for this: The Philamancer. Because in Greek, "phil" means love and "mance" means magic. So basically my nickname meant…love magic.

Eventually, Alex came out of cabin six to laugh with me.

"Hey," he said. "Is the Philamancer at work?"

"Yep." I added a little popping noise at the end, and if you don't know what I'm talking about, watch _Shrek 2._ It's what Donkey does when they're on their way to Far Far Away.

He flinched and glared at me. I love making him squirm.

But soon I had to laugh at the look on his face.

And they say that laughter is contagious.

I wish we could have stayed there, laughing like that. It would've saved a lot of heartbreak.

But then the heads of cabins came back—all but Percy, Annabeth, and Clarisse. Castor Greene, head of Dionysus, called me from the doorway of his cabin.

I ran over.

"Hey, Kathryn," he said. He knew my name! He knew it! I had a major crush on Castor. "Chiron wants you in the Big House."

"Why?" I asked.

"Like I'd know," he replied. I started to walk away, disappointed that something hadn't happened, when Castor put his hand gently on my shoulder. "He seems kind of agitated. Be careful."

I grinned, not trusting myself to speak.


	2. A Prophecy

So this is the second week of my new writing schedule (Mondays are _One Reason Needed_, Tuesdays are breaks, Wednesdays are _The Son of Neptune_, Thursdays are _The Fight of Our Lives_, and Fridays are _Dare or Dare_).

Friend really didn't have much to do with this chapter, but she still rocks. Big black rocks (addicted to _Emily the Strange_). But anyway, on with "Ode to Friend."

Hmm…Friend didn't have much to do with this chapter (whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, I still don't know, and I wrote this chapter three weeks ago), but I slipped her real name in briefly. I think she'll be in another chapter, soon, maybe even be a bad guy, but that would be mean (but if I'm writing _Dare or Dare_, I can't be nice, can I?)

Oh well.

Here is chapter two.

Chapter Two—REYNA—A Prophecy

I woke up in my tent and knew I had a long day ahead of me. I brushed my dirt brown* hair out of my eyes. I stared at my reflection in the mirror. My hair fell past my shoulders, onto my purple shirt layered over a black sweater. My jeans still had the stain s of the mud the Mars kids had thrown at me the other day. Nothing a second washing wouldn't cure. I thought for a moment how beautiful the girl in the mirror looked, and I wondered why the others teased her, but then I saw her eyes.

Those brown eyes were shattered, like broken glass. Once she had been whole, once she had laughed, once she'd had a family, but now her eyes, broken and red with tears, revealed all she'd ever been through.

My name is Reyna Morgana, and I'm the daughter of Cloacina, goddess of, well…sewers.

I heard the wolf cry from across the large field where we had set up camp. I picked up my dagger and put it in the sheath on my belt. I sighed and left the tent.

I'm the only girl in the Cloacina legion. That doesn't stop Cloacina from having a bunch of boys, or me from being praetor (leader) of the fifteenth legion.

"Hey, Reyna!" yelled one of the Jupiter kids. It was the girl, Tannis. "How many times did you crap your pants last night?"

I ignored it from experience long past, but her brother, Jason, wouldn't let it go. "Maybe there's a good _reason_ I'm praetor. As opposed to you. That wasn't necessary." He leaned over to her and whispered something I couldn't hear.

Tannis exploded with laughter. "No…way, Jason Grace. You STILL like her? You can do better!"

Jason turned red, but I couldn't tell if it was from embarrassment or rage. "You call Gwen better than Reyna? Gwendolyn is probably the most conceited, devious little devil." He kicked a rock at the memory of Gwendolyn, daughter of Venus, who took pride in being the "object" of many guys' desires. He hopped around, grabbing his toe. And Tannis smirked. She _smirked_. He could have DIED and Tannis would stand there SMIRKING!

I went up and punched Tannis in the face.

"Thanks," Jason said, putting his foot down. "Sorry she's a jerk."

"I'm used to it," I say.

I walked away.

Wow.

Jason Grace actually liked me.

But I had to get my legion up to breakfast or the wolves would be angry—not to mention hungry.

I walked into the dining pavilion with the rest of my legion, and helped myself to bacon, eggs, and sausages.

Vegetarians can't survive a week here. I mean, we're given vegetables like bell peppers or olives, but not enough to keep a person alive on them alone.

After breakfast, there was target practice. I've always envied those with swords or bows—they're natural. We in legion fifteen have to use our powers, which gets us even more ridicule. As children of the goddess of human waste, our powers have given us a reputation as the Monkeys—the poo-flingers.

These powers are good when we're using them (or are about to use them—nothing will get people running faster than the threat of poop) but afterward…well…let's put it this way: the bathrooms are overcrowded with our legion.

I was busy soiling my third dummy when I noticed Lupa standing next to me. I cut the powers as fast as I could. Lupa's voice spoke in my mind, always with the hint of a growl. "I would like to speak with you in my office."

Stomach churning, knowing nothing good could come out of this, I followed the immortal mother wolf into the cave she called her office.

The "office" was carved into the rock by legions long past. It was where demigods were tested when they came here—one test, each different to suit the demigod—and this was also where she nursed them, if they were any younger than Jason was when he came here—three. But despite the homey feel of the place, there was always the warning not to be weak, in the form of the red-stained floor, and let's just say that it wasn't red from Hawaiian Punch.

"We have a letter," said Lupa, and I understood what she meant. We get letters from Olympus—Apollo, if you want specifics—that contained prophecies. "Well?" she snarled. "Open it."

A white envelope materialized in my hand. It read, "Reyna Morgana, LTA, California." With shaking fingers, I opened the envelope and pulled out,

"_Three children of Greece and three children of Rome_

_Shall meet one day soon and no blood shall be shown_

_The seeds will be planted for peace between the two,_

_But still they shall wait for the son of Neptune."_

"We have reason to believe you are one of these three children of Rome," Lupa growled, "as the prophecy was addressed to you. I assume this is a quest. Who are your two companions?"

I hesitated. Lupa didn't require an answer—she didn't believe in wasted breath—but I didn't know who to ask on a journey that would most likely change the face of history.

Jason Grace, of course. As the son of Jupiter, he would be useful on this quest—powerful, son of the skies. I also had my own personal reasons, but let's leave it at that.

But who else? I had three other friends—Dakota Marshall, Lulia Marks, and Bobby Black. If I had to choose between them during a fight, I'd choose either Dakota, daughter of Minerva, and Lulia, daughter of Mars. But the prophecy said something about peace, and neither of them were known for peacefulness.

So, Bobby?


	3. And A Quest

Hi guys, and that's a hi from Lady Susan Scruffy of Lido. (But you can also call me Lady Margaret Splodge of Lilac)

Sorry, to pass the time before the Royal Wedding the other night, my aunts and I came up with rules for your title.

You have to be either Lord or Lady something of something. For your first name you take the name of either of your grandparents, same gender please. For your last name, choose any pet you have had in the last ten years, living or dead. And for the second something, you have to use a street you've lived on in the past ten years. You can give me a Lord/Lady name in your review or a list of them if you can't decide.

I have quite a long list of Lady names, as AgentDoubleOGrace will tell you.

And also—for those of you who have never had food poisoning, not something you want to put on your bucket list. And I mean seriously. I got my first taste Saturday due to undercooked bacon…man, throwing up at the LA County Book Fair was NOT fun. NOT fun. And I repeat: NOT FUN AT ALL.

And friend helped me with a TON of writer's block. Her ideas are still marked with an asterisk (*). And if she offends any of you Chiron fans, well, I'm sorry. Calling Chiron…what we called him was actually not my idea.

But anyway…

Chapter Three—Alex—A Quest

Let's get one thing straight: I am not a night person. You will wake me up only if you wish to get punched in the stomach when I'm fully awake. Unless you're Kathryn or Annabeth.

Annabeth woke me up at 11:45.

"Alex," she whispered urgently. "You're needed in the Big House."

"Why?" I groaned.

"Kathryn's got a quest," Annabeth said, "and she asked you to come with her."

"Gladly," I said, fully awake now. We also had to pick up Annika from cabin four (she had also been chosen), and then Annabeth left us. She said she desperately needed to plan something, leaving us to guess what it was.

Once we got to the Big House, there was one more thing to guess. Chiron wasn't there—only Kathryn. There was a note on the table saying,

"Dear Kathryn,

"You are about to embark on a dangerous quest. When Annabeth comes down from her audience with the Oracle, ask her to bring your chosen companions.

"—Chiron"

"He didn't tell you what he wanted?" Annika asked.

Kathryn shook her head, her blond ponytail swinging behind her. "Annabeth told me that _she's_ going on a quest, too, but that was it. I guess…I'm the leader? But why me?"

I shrugged. "Maybe it's something only you can do, Philamancer."

Annika stared at me. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.

I shrugged again. Annika rolled her eyes.

"Tomorrow's Camp Half-Blood spirit day," said Kathryn, stating what we already knew. "What are you going to do?"

"We'll overrun the entire camp with carrots," Annika said. "And…other orange vegetables."

"You're doing a practical joke?" I asked.

Annika rolled her eyes again. "No need to sound so surprised. Just because the Stolls played a prank on us doesn't mean we can't play one back."

Kathryn nodded as if this made sense to her. "Alex?" she asked.

"Um…" I didn't want to say it. Our cabin has a history of doing things in unity, but this year we were in trouble. The girls, being girls, wanted to do a broadway-like song and dance about how awesome camp was. The boys, being boys, were protesting almost violently. "Don't know."

Annika sniggered. Kathryn shrugged and said, "I'm dying my streaks orange."

I guess I should explain. Kathryn has blue eyes and blond hair, which she dyes green, blue, or red, depending on her mood. Today her streaks were green.

"Nice," I said, but I couldn't imagine her with orange streaks. It didn't really seem like a Kathryn thing to do—but then, Kathryn wouldn't be content without risks.

Did I like Kathryn? Yeah, I guess you could say that. But she liked other guys, I'm sure. Like Castor, for instance. She told me everything she liked about him. I got out of the room as fast as I could.

I was so deep in thought that Kathryn had to shake me to get my attention. "Alex!"

I looked up. "Hmm?" I could see in her eyes that she was laughing at me. "What?"

As a response, she flung her head back and laughed. "What did I tell you?" she said to Annika, who took this as her cue to laugh along.

"What?" I demanded again.

Finally, the story came out: they had been talking about me and Kathryn had said something about the fact that I doze off sometimes. Annika had sarcastically replied, "Prove it." Needless to say, Kathryn did. We all burst into another fit of laughter at this, and Chiron walked—or trotted—in.

"Always nice to see you're having a good time," he said.

"Yep." Kathryn made one of those irritating popping noises again. That's one of her few faults—she knows exactly how to annoy me.

"So," I said. "Why'd you drag us out here in the middle of the night, Crayon*-I mean Chiron?"

Chiron's bushy eyebrows rose.

"Well," I said, thinking fast. "You know I'm dyslexic!"

"And how, exactly, does that keep you from pronouncing my name?"

I sank in the chair and felt my cheeks grow hot. He'd nailed me.

Annika pinched her cheeks and muttered, "Blushies*."

"So—Chiron," said Kathryn. "Why…_did_ you drag us out here in the middle of the night*?"

"The Oracle has been talking to herself lately, a thing that deeply troubles me," Chiron began. "She says something about the water child going to San Francisco alone, to join the daughter of Eros. She also blabbers about 'Romans,' and 'poo.'"

I sniggered, half expecting Chiron to yell out, "April fool's!" Of course it didn't happen, because it was June. But I mean, and Oracle talking about poo?

On the contrary, Chiron's thousand year old face turned somber. "Laugh all you wish, Mr. Daniels, this is serious business. She could be talking about Cloacina, Roman goddess of, well, shit."

"That's one crappy goddess," Kathryn muttered. I laughed outright at that one.

"So," said Annika, with a pointed glance at both of us, "where are we going on this potentially life-threatening mission?"

"Were you listening?" asked Chiron. "San Francisco."

"How?" I asked.

"The Labyrinth," replied Chiron. "Percy and Annabeth found an entrance here—the entrance you will be using. Now, there is no way to know exactly where you are, but you'll get there eventually."

"Great," I said. "Where specifically are we going?"

"Wish I knew," Chiron said, shrugging, "but my research tells me that you will know when you get there."

"Very specific," I muttered.

"So when are we going?" asked Kathryn.

"We'll give you a day to get ready and then you're leaving day after tomorrow at daybreak."

"What do we bring?" I asked. "How do we get food?"

"Bring weapons, an extra pair of clothes, drachma and spray guns. As for the food…I suppose that's why the Fates chose Annika for this quest."

"We'll be vegetarians for the whole quest?" I asked, incredulous.

"Well," said Annika, rolling her eyes again. "I can't make burger trees."

I groaned. I wouldn't survive this quest with Annika.

But Annika would be the reason I survived.

Chiron gave us one last piece of advice before departing to bed: "If I were you, I'd get familiar with your parents' Roman aspects."


End file.
